La Cage aux Folles
| based on = | starring = | music = Ennio Morricone | cinematography = Armando Nannuzzi | editing = | studio = | distributor = United Artists | released = | runtime = 91 minutes | country = | language = | budget = $1.1 million | gross = $20.4 million }} La Cage aux Folles ( , "The Cage of Madwomen") is a 1978 Franco-Italian comedy film and the first film adaptation of Jean Poiret's 1973 play La Cage aux Folles. It is co-written and directed by Édouard Molinaro and stars Ugo Tognazzi and Michel Serrault. Plot Like the play upon which it is based, the film tells the story of a gay couple – Renato Baldi (Ugo Tognazzi), the manager of a Saint-Tropez nightclub featuring drag entertainment, and Albin Mougeotte (Michel Serrault), his star attraction – and the madness that ensues when Renato's son, Laurent (Rémi Laurent), brings home his fiancée, Andrea (Luisa Maneri), and her ultra-conservative parents (Carmen Scarpitta and Michel Galabru) to meet them. Cast * Ugo Tognazzi as Renato Baldi ** Pierre Mondy as voice of Renato (French release) * Michel Serrault as Albin Mougeotte/'Zaza Napoli' ** Oreste Lionello as voice of Albin (Italian release) * Claire Maurier as Simone Deblon * Rémi Laurent as Laurent Baldi * Carmen Scarpitta as Louise Charrier * Benny Luke as Jacob * Luisa Maneri as Andrea Charrier * Michel Galabru as Simon Charrier Reception Box office , La Cage aux Folles has remained the 10.Foreign Language Movies at the Box Office. Box Office Mojo. foreign film released in the United States of America. The film was the second highest-grossing film of the year in France with 5,406,614 admissions. In Germany, it received 2.65 million admissions, making it the 11th highest-grossing film of the year. Critical response On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a 95% rating based on 21 reviews, with an average rating of 7.82/10. The site's consensus reads: "La Cage aux Folles is a fine French-Italian farce with flamboyant, charming characters and deep laughs". Roger Ebert gave the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote that "the comic turns in the plot are achieved with such clockwork timing that sometimes we're laughing at what's funny and sometimes we're just laughing at the movie's sheer comic invention. This is a great time at the movies." Vincent Canby of The New York Times wrote in a negative review that the film "is naughty in the way of comedies that pretend to be sophisticated but actually serve to reinforce the most popular conventions and most witless stereotypes."Canby, Vincent (May 13, 1979). "Film: 'Cage aux Folles,' Farce in a French Club". The New York Times. 41. Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four and wrote, "For me, 'La Cage aux Folles' was over soon after it began. It's all so predictable. This could have been a Luci & Desi comedy routine. The film's only distinctive quality is the skill of its veteran actors in working with tired material."Siskel, Gene (July 19, 1979). "Acting helps, but 'La Cage' material seems tired". Chicago Tribune. Section 2, p. 5. Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a frequently hilarious French variation on Norman, Is That You? and has the same broad humor and appeal but has been put over with considerably more aplomb."Thomas, Kevin (July 18, 1979). "A French Variation on 'Norman'". Los Angeles Times. Part IV, p. 13. Gary Arnold of The Washington Post panned the film for "stale, excruciating sex jokes" and direction that "has evidently failed to devise a playing rhythm to compensate for whatever farcical tempo the material enjoyed on the stage."Arnold, Gary (July 18, 1979). "Feeble Farce". The Washington Post. E6. David McGillivray of The Monthly Film Bulletin described the film as "a crude amalgam of Norman, Is That You? and John Bowen's play Trevor ... All shrieks, mincing and limp wrists, La Cage aux folles also looks positively antiquated beside the sophisticated gay comedy of such as Craig Russell." Awards and honors Legacy Sequels The film was followed by two sequels: La Cage aux Folles II (1980), also directed by Molinaro, and La Cage aux folles 3 - 'Elles' se marient (1985), directed by Georges Lautner. Musical adaptation The 1983 Broadway musical La Cage aux Folles based on the play and the film was also successful. American remake In 1996, an American remake titled The Birdcage, directed by Mike Nichols and written by Elaine May, was released, relocated to South Beach, Miami, and stars Robin Williams and Nathan Lane. ''Adam and Yves'' La Cage aux Folles caught the attention of television producer Danny Arnold, who in 1979 pitched the concept of a weekly series about a gay couple similar to the one in the film to ABC. His planned title was Adam and Yves, a play on both Adam and Eve and a slogan used by some anti-gay groups. After months in development, Arnold realized that the concept was unsustainable as a weekly series, which led to the show getting dropped.Tropiano, p. 252 References Literature * External links * * * *[https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2892-la-cage-aux-folles-folles-family-values La Cage aux Folles: Folles Family Values] an essay by David Ehrenstein at the Criterion Collection }} Category:1978 films Category:French films Category:Italian films Category:French-language films Category:Italian-language films Category:1970s LGBT-related films Category:1970s sex comedy films Category:French LGBT-related films Category:French sex comedy films Category:Italian sex comedy films Category:Italian LGBT-related films Category:Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe winners Category:Commedia all'italiana Category:Cross-dressing in film Category:Films scored by Ennio Morricone Category:French films based on plays Category:Films directed by Édouard Molinaro Category:Films featuring a Best Actor César Award-winning performance Category:Films shot in Saint-Tropez Category:Gay-related films Category:LGBT-related sex comedy films